For the last couple years, I have chosen a Word to be my intention of the year. A word that I could repeat daily, weekly, monthly as a reminder; something to explore & cultivate as a touchstone in my life. My first Word was Truth. Last year’s Word was Surrender. And, this year, in a go-big-or-go-home kind of way, I have chosen two Words.

These two words come directly from Brene Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection, which I have written about several times. This book has given me many powerful concepts to explore in my own life, but one in particular seems to be in need of a whole year of exploration…

PLAY & REST

Play is not something I do well. I plan, I accomplish and I cross off goals. I don’t do “nothing” or “silly”. And I think that is a huge shame and a loss of joy. In the words of Brown, I am hoping to “let go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth.” Play is unplanned & even purposeless. We do it because it is fun and because we want to.

The opposite of play is not work – the opposite of play is depression ~Dr. Stuart Brown

So where does “Rest” come into play (hehe, forgive the word play, HA!)? Because we are too busy to “waste time” or “fool around”. Because in an effort to accomplish, it would be too easy to schedule and plan my Play, and that defeats the whole point.

This year I want to leave myself time to do nothing, to allow the space for spontaneity and to have a whole lot of fun doing it. This means I will say “no” a lot in 2014 ( which feels scary even as I write this), but I believe I am going to find that saying no often feels like saying “yes” to the things I really want: time to read the paper, to hike more, to travel more, to spend more time with family.

So, I start my year with a grand adventure & the scariest NO of all: one month of NO to work/email/pay checks and a huge yes to TRAVEL. And I am leaving without too much baggage: no planned outcomes or expectations, no lofty goals of growth or accomplishment. Simply travel for the experience itself. And for the fun.

Have you thought of an intention or word for your year? I’d love to hear it! Share it with me on Facebook (disclaimer: I might not respond until February but I’d still love to hear from you!) 🙂

Comprehensive Cleanse Kit Includes:

Effective Meal Plans to Fit Your Needs:

Paleo

Vegetarian

Traditional Ayurveda

What does the Cleanse involve?

A comprehensive daily plan, weekly check-in meetings and online community support. You will incorporate Ayurvedic tools and herbs such as abhyanga massage, and Liver Support to optimize the detox process, as well as eat a nutritious, clean diet during each phase of the process:

Preparation & Elimination Phase
To prepare your body to flush toxins, we will first make sure that your natural detoxifying processes are functioning optimally by starting to gently eliminate toxic foods and patterns. This will help:

Balance Blood Sugar

Stimulate the Lymphatic System

Decongest the Liver Channels

Cleanse Phase
During the Main Cleanse, you will eat a nutritious diet free of refined & processed sugars, gluten, caffeine and alcohol. You will drink increasing amounts of ghee each morning for several days. You will also carve out some time to rest & reflect.

Goal being:

Support the Liver in Flushing Toxic Fats & Chemicals

Reset your Metabolism

Reintroduction Phase
After the Main Cleanse, it is time to rejuvenate! You will continue on the Elimination diet and gradually reintroduce foods. Now that you have a clean and primed digestive system it is the perfect time to identify any food sensitivities. A step-by-step guide for how to reintroduce food and track any issues is provided. You will continue to boost your digestive fire while supporting your lymphatic system and liver. You will continue taking herbal supplements and teas for several weeks and incorporate a seasonal, whole foods diet.

Investment: $200

We are starting the New Year with a dive into a classic yoga text: The Upanishads. We will be discussing in Yoga Book Club on Tuesday, January 28 at 8 p.m. We are meeting at the office of Inner Balance in the Southern Dairies complex. This club is open and free to all; please join us!

Among the oldest of India’s spiritual texts, the Upanishads are records of intensive question-and-answer sessions given by illumined sages to their students. Widely featured in philosophy courses, the Upanishads have puzzled and inspired wisdom seekers from Yeats to Schopenhauer. Eknath Easwaran makes this challenging text more accessible by selecting the passages most relevant to readers seeking timeless truths today.

There is nothing yummier than a glass of eggnog at the holidays (shout out: my dad makes exceptional eggnog!) but it can be a bit rich for everyday drinking… So, I am particularly grateful to Kris Carr for sharing this delicious smoothie recipe for a vegan eggnog that you can do equally for breakfast or an after dinner treat. Save the real deal for Christmas/New Year’s only!

For the Love of Nog

3 cups almond milk (or nondairy milk of choice)

1 banana

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (secret: nutmeg is a tummy soother so this is awesome for this time of too-much-rich-food)

In just a few short days, I’ll be co-teaching my final class of 2013 alongside Octavia Raheem & Ian Boccio for our Winter SOULstice event. Our hope is to share a 2 hour exploration of the soul with you. And, while I don’t want to give away all the surprises this evening will hold, I thought I would share a few of the quotes and phrases that inspired the creation of this evening.

“The soul doesn’t seem to make the distinction between the light and the dark. It chooses both. It doesn’t care whether you do something successfully or fail at it; it just wants to know, did you do it in your way? Was it you who failed, or were you trying to be someone else when you failed? If it was you, the soul is happy, because it was your experience, your failure, and no one can take it away from you. The question is not: Did you fail, or did you win? The question becomes: Did you go your own way?” —David Whyte

“Soul, to me, means “embodied essence,” when we experience ourselves and others in our full humanity – part animal, part divine. Healing comes through embodiment of the soul. The soul in matter is what I think the feminine side of God is all about… The feminine soul is what grounds us; it loves and accepts us in our totality.” – Marion Woodman

Always we hope

Someone else has the answer…

At the center of your being

You have the answer,

You know who you are

And you know what you want.

There is no need

To run outside

For better seeing.

Nor to peer from a window.

Rather abide at the center of your being;

For the more you leave it; the less you learn.

Search your heart

And see

The way to do

Is to be

—Lao Tzu

“While the spirit path often feels like a flash of bright light in Forever’s frying pan, the soul path often feels like a slow, bloody crawl through thick, dark mud.” – Sera Beak

December’s Yoga Book Club Selection: Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence by Matthew Sanford. We are meeting on Tuesday, December 17 at 8 p.m. Book club is always free and open to all! I hope you’ll pick up this book and join us! Our location has moved; if you plan on joining us please email me at info@merylarnett.com for location details.

Matthew Sanford’s life and body were irrevocably changed at age 13 when his family’s car skidded off a snowy Iowa overpass, killing Matt’s father and sister and leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. This pivotal event set Matt on a lifelong journey, from his intensive care experiences at the Mayo Clinic to becoming a paralyzed yoga teacher and founder of a nonprofit organization. Forced to explore what it truly means to live in a body, he emerges with an entirely new view of being a “whole” person. In this searingly candid memoir he delivers a powerful message about the endurance of the human spirit and of the body that houses it.